Angola to receive oil storage and pumping vessel

Angola’s Kaombo oil block will start producing oil later this year, thanks to a vessel it has acquired from Singapore to help in pumping the oil, Total has said.

The Kaombo Norte floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel departed Singapore earlier this year. It has the capacity to pump 115,000 barrels per day (bpd), half the block’s oil production of 230,000 bpd.

Once completed, the US$16 billion ultra-deepwater offshore project will significantly boost the amount of oil produced by Angola, and will add about 14 percent to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member’s average output of 1.632 million bpd.

The Kaombo oil block, operated by Total, is located about 260 kilometres from Angola’s coastline and has estimated reserves of 650 million barrels of oil.

According to reports, another floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is still in Singapore and will be dispatched once proper logistics are in place. The Kaombo oil block is expected to pump about 100,000 bpd later this year.

In 2017, Output by OPEC members rose by 0.27 percent defying the production cap deal aimed at alleviating oversupply. OPEC entered a deal with Russia to cut its output by about 1.2 million bpd. Angola, in compliance with the agreement has been pumping less than the maximum agreed but with the completion of Kaombo, the compliance efforts will be complicated.

Sonangol , Angola’s state oil company maintains that the 2018 production will be steady and the above-target cuts could keep its average compliance for the year within OPEC’s limits.